There have been so many instances when some out-of-the-box things have taken place in a game of cricket. But what transpired during the U19 World Cup match between Ireland and Zimbabwe was one of the rarest moments. An earthquake shook the ground when the players were on the field during the Plate semi-final at the Queens Park Oval in Trinidad on Saturday.
During the sixth over of the Zimbabwe innings, tremors were felt when the bowler delivered the fifth ball. While the players on the field did not react to the situation, the commentators sounded scared and were heard saying that backstage was in panic mode when the earthquake hit.
Watch the scary moment here:
Earthquake at Queen's Park Oval during U19 World Cup match between @cricketireland and @ZimCricketv! Ground shook for approximately 20 seconds during sixth over of play. @CricketBadge and @NikUttam just roll with it like a duck to water! pic.twitter.com/kiWCzhewro
— Peter Della Penna (@PeterDellaPenna) January 29, 2022
According to a local news website, an earthquake with a 5.2 magnitude on the Richter scale was experienced during the live match. “A 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck near Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday morning. According to the UWI Seismic Research Centre, the quake occurred around 9:40 am at a depth of 10km,” said the report.
We didn’t know anything happened: Ireland skipper Tim Tactor
While the commentators defined the earthquake as an “extreme 20 seconds of shaking” the players felt very little in the middle. Ireland captain Tim Tactor said that they did not even know if anything happened. “We didn’t know anything happened. We were on the grass and it probably did not translate to us. It was 5.2, it was pretty big but, no, we did not hear anything during the game,” Tactor was quoted saying by the local website.
One of the commentators, however, described the whole incident for Cricbuzz and said that they felt like it was never going to end. “It was probably 15 to 20 seconds of extreme shaking,” Andrew Leonard, the commentator on air at that time, was quoted saying by Cricbuzz. “(It) never felt like that the Media Centre would collapse or anything. It was lack of control… that you were not able to control the shaking…, and no one knew when it was going to end. It seemed to be getting intense particularly in the middle. (It was) a tiny bit scary I guess,” he explained.
